foo_whatsnew

2007-01-22 13:29:11

What does this component do?

Let's start with what it does not do: It does not check for new versions of foobar2000 or any components. It is also not a change log reader. It merely detects available features and reports if some were added or removed compared to the last time you ran foobar2000. The types of features we are talking about here are main and context menu commands, preferences pages, Columns UI panels, advanced settings, and more.

Why would I use it?

You don't want to spend time looking for new features after updating foobar2000 or installing or updating one of your components, and the change log is vague or not available, or you are just not the kind of person who reads these things. Perhaps you are new to foobar2000 and don't have the first clue where to go looking for new features.

So how does it work?

Every time you start foobar2000, the component scans the available features. When it detects that some features have been added or removed, it will display a notification icon on the taskbar to make you aware of that. If you click the balloon tooltip or double-click the icon, the component will open a window with a list of the changes. You can also access this window from the main menu (Help/What's New?).

What are the restrictions?

The component only knows about certain types of features, so it may not recognize everything. Since "feature type" is one of the types of feature it does recognize, you will be informed by the component, if its feature recognition ability is enhanced.It cannot detect changes in the implementation of a feature, and currently it cannot detect if a feature is renamed.

I want to try it. Where do I get it?

The component can be downloaded from the official components site. You can also find installation instructions there. Note that you will need Windows XP or better to use it.

Ideas for future improvements

A feature browser that can display all installed features and allows filtering by name and feature type.

On the first run, the component displays all detected features. While this gives an immediate impression of what it does, the displayed list can be a bit overwhelming even on a bare-bones foobar2000 installation. A better idea would be to launch the feature browser on the first run (and change the text on the notification icon accordingly).

Easier access to features.log which is created in the foobar2000 profile directory.

foo_whatsnew

foo_whatsnew

foosion, i have one issue with foo_dockable_panels. foo_whatsnew reports dockable panels' main and context menu commands ('activate' and 'collapse' for each dockable panel) as added or removed on random between subsequent starts. seems to me like some kind of timing issue.

foo_whatsnew

foosion, i have one issue with foo_dockable_panels. foo_whatsnew reports dockable panels' main and context menu commands ('activate' and 'collapse' for each dockable panel) as added or removed on random between subsequent starts. seems to me like some kind of timing issue.

foo_whatsnew

I finally found time to put up version 1.0.2. There should be less erroneous reports about fluctuating configuration dependent features. Still, configuration changes that results in new or removed menu commands will lead to feature change notifications. The only way I see to avoid this is to add some kind of ignore list.

foo_whatsnew

foo_whatsnew

I like this plugin but I had to uninstall it. I frequently change ColumnUI "layouts" to switch between playlist and eye-candy modes. This plugin would trigger every time I was in a different mode from the previous start-up mode.

foo_whatsnew

only comment would be to have the feature browser integrate the features.log. you could make this an optional checkbox that would add history for the component to the display. my guess is you'd add a filter entry box to type in the text to filter on and it would display the current entries that contain that text. You could then check the history checkbox and it would re-filter the output, adding the history of adds/deletes for that feature.

only thing i can think of adding to it would be to list the foo_*.dll that the functioanlity is derived from, if that's possible. you could then filter features based on the plugin. just a thought...

and the big list at first run isn't a problem.

edit: thought of another enhancement request: in the report that pops up when you click the balloon, hot-link the preferences text so you can click it and go right to it; rather than having to dismiss the report and then go into preferences and hunt it down manually...

foo_whatsnew

only thing i can think of adding to it would be to list the foo_*.dll that the functioanlity is derived from, if that's possible. you could then filter features based on the plugin. just a thought...

If that was possible without problems, I would have added it for the very first version.

yeah, figured as much but thought i'd ask. while i have you, i have a q about the pq_viewer. i finally upgraded to 9.2 from 8.3 this week and can't figure out what this playback queue thing is. i don't remember it from 8.3. how is this different from the regular playlist - is it some sort of temporary queue priority override or somesuch?

foo_whatsnew

thanks for this plugin. Its nice to see what components have tried/used, too bad it doesn't tell you what version the plugins were. This plugin works fine in the latest release in case anyone was curious.

foo_whatsnew

These aren't "events" reported by foo_whatsnew.But I know foo_menu_addons creates menu commands playlist-depending and these changes are shown by foo_whatsnew simply because a menu has been changed.As you see it's working for me.